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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. chest — a box
  4. content — happy
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. scale — size or range
  7. branch — a division
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bulb — for light
  10. ball — a great time
  11. chest — of your body
  12. ball — a dance
  13. plane — a tool
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. degree — temperature
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chest — of your body
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. degree — from a university
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. scale — in music
  24. bulb — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com